Game 117: platooning the outfield

Sorry this is late, but we went last Saturday night for the second of three wins against the Marlins and the second of now five straight wins for the Reds. On Friday night, the Reds faced a righty, Josh Johnson, who is not just any righty, but one of the top three or four pitchers in the league. The Reds started Nix, Edmonds, and Bruce in the outfield, presumably to get as many lefties in there as possible against Johnson. On Saturday night, they started Heisey, Stubbs, and Gomes, presumably to get as many righties in there against lefty, Sean West (certainly no Josh Johnson). In both instances, the Reds came away with the 'w'.

I haven't researched it, but I would wager that no other N.L. team is carrying 6 outfielders and, therefore, couldn't platoon the entire outfield, but that is what the Reds did over the weekend. On Sunday, Gomes started instead of Nix in left against righty, Anibel Sanchez, so it's not a strict platoon. On Tuesday, Stubbs played instead of Edmonds, and on Wednesday, it was Gomes instead of Nix. (Stubbs played center, but Edmonds filled in for Votto at first.)

This configuration leaves only Janish and Cairo as back-up infielders. Rumors have Heisey taking grounders at second base, but that seems to be only in case of an emergency. As mentioned, Edmonds has also played a little at first for Votto. But I like this configuration. Dusty's got a bunch of options, and one of the main reasons the Reds are winning is that everyone has contributed, especially Cairo, Janish, and Heisey. This way, everyone stays fresh and no one gets stale. We'll keep following this, although something will have to give when O-Cab comes back. Right now, I don't see an obvious cut or demotion for O-Cab.